When it comes to programming any form of training there is a large amount of people that do it blind.

This means they jump in head first without first assessing the basic strength, ability or condition of their trainees, it’s a shocking state of affairs.

While you may indeed get away with this if your clients are exclusively bodybuilders, this sort of behaviour won’t cut it with people who are interested in performance or strength. The chances of success are about the same as hitting a fish in a barrel with no fish in it.

So what tests do you have?

RM Test (squat, bench, deadlift are the classics)

Vo2 Max Test (1.5 mile run for example is often used)

ROM Testing (movement/flexibility can be FMS or other)

That’s essentially it for most people, and something all coaches/trainers should do, yet many don’t.

You literally have endless tests you can perform, however they will differ depending on the overall goal of the client.

If you’re looking at some options I will share with you what I use (keep in mind most people I see are after strength and/or performance progress).

RM Test – 1,3 or 5 reps

Squat

Power Clean

Press or Push Press (goal dependent)

Weighted Chin with Half Body Weight

Farmers Walk with Body Weight

Standing Broad Jump

The above give a good gauge of where the athlete is in regards to relative strength/power (Say I’m working with a sprinter, ideally they are hitting a 2xBW squat for 5 and 1.5xBW on the power clean, meaning they have optimal lower body strength/power)

Vo2 Test – Sport Specific

Example: 40 yard dash

Example: Watt Bike Test

Example: 2k Row

ROM Test

FMS (functional Movement Screen)

That’s essentially it.

This gives me a good idea of a persons level of strength, power, fitness and overall movement capabilities.

While a little different than what you may need, it’s worth remembering that having these is essential for good programming and progress.

1 – Most don’t know what they need to do and as such need it clearly signposted

2 – It helps people feel less pressure, basically they can blame the structure for failure rather than themselves

3 – Things such as accountability and more responsibility become easier to administer

4 – Recorded data makes for a great confidence booster to show them how far they’ve come

5 – It teaches them how to achieve success on their own

Now there are those rare people who don’t need a framework to make their own success, if you’re one of them then we’ll see each other at the top. If that’s not you it’s not a problem, just ask for help and it will be yours.

^^ A sentence many a man has said over the years and continues to say to this day.

“I want to be lean and strong”

^^ Something I’m pleased to announce more women are saying, it seems there has been a shift in them saying ‘I just want to be skinny’ to now learning the benefit of being lean and strong, it’s great to see.

While it is only my opinion, I feel everybody should be strong.

I’m not talking about record breaking strong, just strong enough to stay healthy and stave off the effects of ageing on the body.

These sports all centre around lifting:

– Weightlifting (olympic lifting)

– Body Building

– Powerlifting

– Strongman

– CrossFit (some may not like this one)

Did you know lifting weights can have the following positive effects on the body:

Personally I’d say the mental improvement is the pivotal one as this can have the biggest impact on a persons life in a very positive way.

However….

If you’re not an athlete and lift for health/confidence you should do it because you enjoy it, not because you feel you have to, that’s the secret to balance and long term sustainability.

Don’t eat yourself up if you miss a session, chalk it up to life and sue it as a rest day, that way you’ll be more motivated when you get to go in, excited to train in fact. Keep this in mind and you’ll find you don’t fall out of love with training.

What if lifting isn’t for you?

That’s cool, find soothing you do enjoy, here are some other options for improving strength and all achieving all the other benefits mentioned above:

Partial reps can sometimes be the topic of controversy but if done correctly they can help you break plateaus and overcome limiting factors, not to mention have some great crossover to athletic potential.

The above article covers everything I thought of so there is techicanlly no need to rewrite what has already been well written, instead I am going to give you a list of exercises to consider adding to your training to hep you break plateaus.

– Box Squat

– Pin Press (bench or overhead to lock out)

– Press to pins (start at bottom and press in to the pins as hard as you possibly can)

– Box Jumps

– Rack Pulls

– Olympic lifts in hang style start or power style finish

With the above exercises you also have various methods that involve partial reps, Im sure everyone has heard of Matrix 21’s, this is usually done on bicep curls. Along with this you could also try complex training for partial reps, here is an example of one:

Bulgarian complex training –

A complex of 4-5 exercises (similar to a giant set), going from the heaviest one to the lightest one.

A1. Back squat on Box: 3-5 repetitions with a load of 85-95% of 1RM Rest 3-4 minutes

A2. Power snatch or power clean: 2-3 repetitions with a load of 85-95% of 1RM Rest 3-4 minutes

A3. Jump squats: 5-10 repetitions with a load of 15-20% of the back squat 1RM Rest 3-4 minutes

PED’s (performance enhancing drugs) have been in sports for a very long time, and almost all top athletes are using them.

Time to stop being naive.

The reason PED’s will help your performance so dramatically is because they allow your body to recover faster than you naturally can, steroids are a medicinal thing after all. This allows you to train harder, more frequently and achieve levels beyond that of even the most genetically gifted people.

It’s advised that you stay away from taking such substances, you’re not an endocrinologist and you will cause yourself problems. There are plenty of ways you can increase your performance without taking PED’s, you just have to be prepared to put in some times and effort to achieve the results you desire.

Here are some simple steps to help improve your recovery, boost your performance and take you to the next level NATURALLY.

– Eat more nutritious whole foods. This will promote an anabolic state in the body providing your calories are in a surplus.

– Stress less, meditate more. Lowering cortisol levels will help you recover much faster, remember cortisol is inflammatory and you need to bring this down asap.

– Have regular massages, or at least foam roll. This will help release some tension in the fascia and break down some unwanted muscle knots, allowing for increase blood flow which means more nutrients to the muscles to help them recover.

– Sleep in a completely dark room. This means no lights, no electrical devices, essentially nothing int he room that can disturb your sleep. The deep your sleep the better you will recover.

– Train Less. This might seem counterintuitive but there is a difference between chasing performance and facing fatigue. People want to feel demolished, but that doesn’t always mean that they will be getting results or progressing, these people are chasing fatigue and not performance. The best way to ascertain this is to always aim to increase either your reps, weight on exercises, increase time under tension or decrease rest periods. If you can’t achieve at lest one of these and progressively improve then it might be time to take a step back and bring down the volume, but keep the weights the same (3×3 @ 85% 1RM instead of 8×3 for example).

– Supplement. Supplements are not a substitute for real foods, but they can help aid in your recovery by providing precious extra nutrients, vitamins and calories.